Help - Argh - Weather Problems =o/

[sgupta]

Hey folks,

Just got DirecTV a few weeks ago (HD package with Tivo as well). So far I've been THRILLED overall, BUT...I'm starting to really freak out here, because weather appears to be a problem.

To be fair, this was a fairly severe snowstorm we had here today, BUT, that is not uncommon for my location, and I lost many/most of my channels, especially the HD at first, but most of the SD became unwatchable after that. (If you want to hear something really odd, Discovery HD continued to come in flawlessly - everything else was pretty much screwed. That I still don't understand.)

After a time messing about and calling D*, I reluctantly also rebooted my system (an HD Tivo), and that time, it couldn't even re-establish a connection, period. =o(

Looked at the dish. There was a little snow/ice on it, but nothing I could really get to. I was able to get a duster up there and knock some off. Didn't appear to me there was enough that it should have caused a problem.

There are also several large trees around - don't know if the heavy/wet snow on them had anything to do with it.

My signal on a clear day was 90+ on both sats. Today it was mid-60's for both when I tested it (and I thought that could get signal, but I guess not...).

But now I'm worried. If TV goes out everytime it rains or snows here (moderate or heavy), that's going to be a major problem.

Any suggestions?

Rain/snow shields?

Having the dish moved?

Please help!

 

[charper1]

if snow and ice are commom you should have either a cover or a heated dish, surprised that the installer didnt try to up-sell you. and if trees are in you line of slight i would see about moving the dish too.

 

[sgupta]

Oh, and here are the symptoms:

First, I noticed most of the HD shows started to have artifacts (colored blocks, etc.).

Then they just went blank and searching for signal on 2, also sometimes searching for signal on 1.

 

[sgupta]

Well, I *thought* the dish was aimed between the trees, so maybe that isn't an issue.

And I didn't realize there WAS a heated dish available. Even talking to DirecTV and asking about options today, she said there were third-party covers, but I'd have to get it installed by someone else.

*looks confused*

I definitely need to resolve this though. Any suggestions as to the most efficient way to go about this would be great.

 

[sgupta]

(oh, and thanks for replying and the possible options - really appreciate it - a bit panicked I've done all this and it isn't going to work well).

 

[charper1]

Even talking to DirecTV and asking about options today, she said there were third-party covers, but I'd have to get it installed by someone else.

*looks confused*

I definitely need to resolve this though.

Don't be confused, D* does not make or market these products, nor do they make their own, so they can't provide you with much info or installation. Similar to OTA reception, DBS takes the stance that they can't know every area or person's situation so they expect the customer to hold that responsibility, by doing the research and make their best purchase. Remember DBS is a national service. Once your snow goes away it will be easy to get everything corrected so it wont happen again unless the sky is falling.

 

[sgupta]

I'm in a small area with not that many installers, but I can see what I can accomplish. I just hope I can get someone to do that kind of work in this area. Might not be easy.

 

[Rappy]

A source to consider

You may want to consider the following site. It describes rain fade and offers some solutions.http://www.solidsignal.com/gainmasterantenna.asp

 

[sgupta]

Thanks. I really hate to spend more to get this working well, but I may have to. Only thing that bothers me is, I keep hearing the dishes will be changing soon. So if I get a different dish (and have to basically have a whole different install), then I'll have to do it again later? Argh... I'll keep searching, but at least it's another option to consider. Thanks again.

 

[deezoneezo]

If snow / ice are a problem try putting something on the dish that has a slick coating when finished armorall wd40 etc. Usually when this is applied the snow will just slide right off. I also saw a post somewhere about using a loosely tied garbage bag. If you do a search for snow, weather, cover etc there are several other threads about this exact issue. Good luck.

 

[sgupta]

Thanks. By the way, a lot of the snow melted today, and when I checked, everything was back in business and fine. We'll see how much of an issue it continues to be.

To be really fair, this was one of the worst storms of the entire year, so I'll try to calm down and not generalize too much. =o)